NASCAR-BGN: Magic Shoes Looks to Defend Nashville Win
2 April 1999
NASHVILLE - "It was like riding an emotional roller coaster." Those are the words of Goulds Pumps driver Mike "Magic Shoes" McLaughlin describing his 1998 visit to the BellSouth 320. The weekend started out with McLaughlin getting tangled up in a wild multi-car accident in practice, destroying a brand new racecar. His Cicci-Welliver owned team instantly went to work on a backup car and by the end of the weekend, the team was celebrating in Victory Lane."After we tore the race car up, I would have never imagined we could still win the race, but my guys busted their tails and gave me a great car," McLaughlin said. "We got kind of lucky at the end when Robert Pressley crashed and we coasted to Victory Lane under caution." "The best thing about the whole weekend was when they gave me the guitar in Victory Lane, that was awesome!," McLaughlin added.
Now it's a year later and McLaughlin enters Nashville in 4th place in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Point Standings. Two of the competitors ahead of McLaughlin (Mark Martin and Jeff Burton) will not participate this weekend. McLaughlin would love nothing more than a win and the lead in the point standings.
"We have been up-and-down all year it seems like," McLaughlin said. "Hopefully we can build on the momentum from our fourth place finish in Texas and put together a string of top-five finishes."
Keep an eye out for the #34 Goulds Pumps Chevrolet this weekend. Inside you will find a driver determined to add to his guitar collection with a win in the BellSouth 320.
PIT NOTES
After 6 races last season, Mike McLaughlin led the NASCAR Busch Grand National Point Standings with 823 points. This season, McLaughlin is in 4th with 781 points.
McLaughlin will host a live chat session at NASCAR.com on Wednesday April 7th at 2:00pm EDT
McLaughlin spent three days in Alabama this week doing promotional work for the April 24th Touchstone Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway
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